Cyma is love!

Tonight, I had dinner with E's family coz it's his brother's birthday. We ate at Cyma Eastwood and I like the food so much that I'm listing down what we ate. No pictures though coz I'm shy to let them wait :-p

1) Cyma chopped salad -
Mixed greens with spinach, arugula, toasted walnuts. sliced pears, sun-dried tomatoes, crumbled bleu cheese and granted Parmesan, served with traditional Greek vinaigrette
---i love their Greek vinaigrette which goes well with the pears and strong taste of bleu cheese

2) Roka Pasta -
Sauteed arugula and spaghetti pasta with EVOO, grated Parmesan cheese and fresh tomatoes.
----a no meat pasta that's not super great but pairs/contrasts well with dish below!

3) Yiouvetsi-
Baked lamb with orzo - rice shaped pasta served with grated Parmesan, parsley and EVOO
---man!! i could die! I love lamb! and the pasta tasted of lamb sauce! I'm surprised I didn't get that drunken feeling! i love lamb to bits. i love the slightly pungent taste and smell of lamb - it perks me up! haha

Should I Join the Bandwagon?

I'm wondering if I should put up a food blog.. after all, I keep a religious food photo album with longish comments in my FB account - privacy protected.  My initial worry is the obligation to post. Anything that I'm obliged to do is not FUN anymore. It'll be just like work and I believe that 9 hours in the office is enough for a day! I love writing that's why I never want it to be a chore - on the contrary, If I do love writing as i claim I do, then doing it would NEVER be a chore! ah the paradox of it all!

I shall ponder about this more.. in the meantime, I have to rest up because today is the day that I get well and tomorrow is the day that I go back to the office!! More importantly, I have to get well the soonest because I have a tiring but fun (i think) activity on Saturday! TREE PLANTING! I like nature so I think tree planting would be fun despite the crazy 430 am meetup on a Saturday! haha

Ciao!

For my Future Cooking...

Found this yummy looking recipe in my May 2005 Cosmo Magazine - a young Angel Locsin on the cover! (she's still with GMA 7 and playing Darna) oh, how time has passed! Nevertheless, good food is eternal  :D

Herbalife Ultimate Program Day 1

[To Edward, Kathy and Stella: this is a blog]

I'm back with using Herbalife as my diet plan. It's perfect for me at this time because I'm not doing much.. just sitting around at work and then playing Plants vs. Zombies at home. Talk about a sedentary lifestyle!

This is a feat 'coz I've tried Herbalife before and it's not an easy thing to do and more so, complete. I have to replace 2 meals with the Nutritional Protein Shake and take an assortment of tablets with it. Previously, I had an ultra controlling boyfriend to help me really stick to the program and it worked wonders for me; right now, there's just me and maybe my Dad's snide remarks hehehe. Here's what my typical daily intake looks like:

30 mins before breakfast:
1 glass of water + Fiberbond (this is the fat blocker)

Breakfast:
2 Tbsp Nutritional Shake (aka Formula 1) + 8oz nonfat milk (plus half a banana is also allowed. You're supposed to blend it but I tried just stirring and it's feasible as well)
2 Fiber and Herb tablets  (fiber!)
1 Vitamin and Minerals    (multivits)
1 Vitamin Mineral Herbal Complex (anti cellulite, anti water retention)

In Between:
1 tsp Herbal Concentrate Green Tea + 16 oz hot or cold water (1/2 tsp is equivalent to 20 mins exercise!!)

30 mins before lunch:
1 glass of water + Fiberbond

Lunch:
Normal food! wooot!
2 Fiber and Herb tablets + 1 Vitamin and Minerals + 1 Vitamin Mineral Herbal Complex

In Between:
1 tsp Herbal Concentrate Green Tea + 16 oz hot or cold water

30 mins before Dinner:
1 glass of water + Fiberbond

Dinner:
2 Tbsp Nutritional Shake + 8oz nonfat milk
2 Fiber and Herb tablets + 1 Vitamin and Minerals + 1 Vitamin Mineral Herbal Complex

oh there's also a personalized protein powder called Formula 3 which I can add to the shake or to yogurt or cereal to increase the feeling of fullness. So I'll add it depending on my need.

Coincidentally, I also bought a fake FitFlop from Greenhills Tiangge for Php 450! I think I could've gotten it cheaper if I wasn't intimidated by the woman seller with a hijab. Anyhoo, I still feel the micro-wobble technology that the original one, priced at Php3500, boasts of as its competitive advantage: A slipper + workout in one! I'm not used to it yet coz I feel muscle soreness on my leg, which is actually what the slipper tag warned of: Use progressively to prevent muscle soreness

So let's see how much I lose by the end of December! I measured my stats last night and will do so every Sunday night :) I aim to lose 15lbs this month! haha!

Good luck to me!!

Food I Regret Eating..

Here's a list of food that i regret eating... i wish i hadn't tried them at all!!



1) Ice Cold Espresso (brewed in you table) from North Park

- i had to brew it myself

- it's too strong.. I got home and felt uber-hyper, pukey, woozy, shakey and just crappy in general.





2) Vanilla Soy Ice Cream from Chimara

- i had to stick out my tongue and say 'yuck' after every spoonful. It was a very 'yucky' experience



3) Flower Iced Tea from Heaven and Eggs

- no matter how much honey or sugar you add, the taste of eating raw petals just won't be erased from your mouth. Just order good 'ol reliable iced tea!

Cerealicious!!!

**I'm feeling restless again, so I'm blogging about exciting and happy places I've been to***

Cerealicious! I'm a certified cereal addict! I cannot bear pass up cereal if it's served for breakfast especially in a hotel buffet! Just imagine my elation when i heard about Cerealicious!! It's right across Bro. Andrew Building (new building of DLSU) in Taft Avenue!

The owner seems like a cereal + movie enthusiast, thus, the movie-related names of the store's menu. Check it out :)

South Beach Diet

I'm on the South Beach Diet! It's been exactly 1 week now and i've lost 5 pounds already :) Add to that are the 5.8 inches i've lost all over my body - a comination of .25 / .5 /1 inch losses from head to toe!

Acceptance Speech:
Thank you to my Dad who was concerned enough about my weight to sell his shares of stock and sponsor my diet!
Thank you to my sisters-in-laws who tried the diet first and have reaped great losses - they've already proven that the diet works before i even started :)
Thank you to Sexy Chef Cafe for cooking up such great tasting meals that I even forget sometimes that I'm on a diet
Thank you to all my friends and family who have supported through the first week, making sticking to the diet all the more easy!

One more week to go and Phase 1 would be completed. I should lose from around 8-13 pounds by the end of the first Phase.

To know more how the South Beach Diet works, here's an excerpt from http://www.southbeach-diet-plan.com/how.html

How Does The South Beach Diet Work?
As mentioned, the South Beach Diet is unique, successful, easy, and works in a three-phase process. Unlike many other so-called diets, with the South Beach Diet, simply substitutes your bad carbohydrates and fats for good ones. After trying this, you will be amazed by how well and quickly it works.

South Beach Diet Phase 1
South Beach Diet Phase 1 lasts for two weeks. During this first phase, you will eat normal meals of chicken, beef, turkey, fish, and shellfish, lots of vegetables, eggs, cheese, nuts, and garden salads using 100% olive oil for your salad dressing. Each day for 14 days, you will eat three, well-balanced meals. While eating until your hunger is satisfied may go against most diets, with the South Beach Diet, it is part of the plan.
Trying to lose weight and become healthy by depriving the body of food makes no sense. In addition to the three meals each day, you will also eat a snack between breakfast and lunch, and then again between lunch and dinner. Even if you do not feel like eating these snacks, for the South Beach Diet to work, you need to, and after dinner, you will even have dessert. Additionally, during this phase, you can drink all the coffee and tea you want and be sure to drink lots of water.

You may be thinking that this is a lot of food - it is! With most diets, you deprive your body, eating only small portions of foods that are unappealing. The change you will make during this phase is that you will cut out all bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, baked goods, fruit, candy, cake, cookies, ice cream, or sugar. Keep in mind that these eliminated foods will be added back into your diet, starting in Phase 2. In addition to taking these foods out of your diet temporarily, you will also need to avoid beer, or any kind of alcohol. Once you start Phase 2, reasonable amounts of wine can be added back in.

Instead of feeling overwhelmed about the foods that will be taken out of your diet during the first two weeks, stop and think about this for a minute. To achieve a life of health and lose unwanted weight, two weeks is a small investment to make. After all, you are worth it! The first two or three days will be somewhat challenging, but breaking any bad habit starts out a little bumpy. Once you pass this small hurdle, the rest of the time will go by quicker than you think. When you see the results that these changes bring, you will be glad you did not give up!

South Beach Diet Phase 2
South Beach Diet Phase 2 is different from the first in that it will last as long as it takes you to lose your desired weight. This phase will last different lengths of time depending on each individual person, how well they follow the diet, and how their body reacts.
Do not forget that by the time you start this phase, you will already be 8 to 13 pounds lighter! Other changes you will notice when starting Phase 2 is that your outlook on eating will be changed. During the past two weeks, the way in which your body was reacting to foods making you overweight was corrected. Those old, nagging cravings have been squelched and the bad eating habits of the past are gone.

The secret is not that you are eating less food, but eating fewer foods that start cravings and store excessive fat. Once the first phase ends, the weight will continue to come off by staying on the plan. Some of the indulgences you took out of your diet during Phase 1 will be added back in, but less often. When you want a piece of chocolate cake, you can have one, just not every night. If hot garlic bread sounds good, you can have this too, but not as often and with less enthusiasm.
As you go through phase 2, your weight loss will not be as dramatic, but it will be consistent. On average, you can expect to lose from one to two pounds. While these numbers are lower than what you achieved in the first phase, losing slowly is healthier and you will keep the weight off.

South Beach Diet Phase 3
South Beach Diet Phase 3 begins when you have hit your target weight. To help you maintain your new weight, you will be able to enjoy options that are more liberal. Once you get to this phase, you will stay there for the rest of your life. After completing Phase 1 and 2, this phase will feel like normal eating to you. Now you are eating differently – for life! If your weight starts creeping back up, modify the foods you are eating and the amounts.

Along with losing extra weight and changing the way your body responds to food, your blood chemistry is also changing, improving your cardiovascular system. With heart disease being a leading cause of death where the only symptom of heart attack is often death, improving your cardiovascular system will add quality years to your life. Although you may have started the South Beach Diet as a way to lose weight, when finished, you will see that you achieved so much more!

Of Tech and Food

I've just installed Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 into my PC and I soo love OneNote! I only installed it because of OneNote, coz frankly, I like the old style of the Excel / Word/ and Powerpoint better. I don't like a lot of drawings or icons since I want to maximize screen space, but that's just me. Our office will be upgrading to the newest Microsoft Products soon coz we have a tie up with them , so I guess the least I can do is try to familiarize myself with the new product.

********

I have decided to keep an Online Food / Diet Journal coz it's so much more interesting than just having it all to myself. At least I can pretend that someone will be reading my work and anticipate my day-to-day updates; thus, I owe it to my readers to update.

As you can see, I need to delude myself with this kind of reasoning to be able to stick with my resolutions. Let's see if it works!

Phase 1: Do Away with Unnecessary Foods
With emphasis on free/celebration food, especially on weekends

After initial assessment, it has been found out that I am doing well with eating right on weekdays when I have my baon for lunch and dinner; however, when the weekend comes, that's when the pigging out starts again. Usually, we eat out or there's an occasion serving buffet-style meals so I give my excuses of 'Minsan lang naman 'to eh' or 'Libre kasi eh'. I end up eating so much and feeling crappy afterwards coz I feel uncomfortably stuffed.

That's my goal for now -- for this week. I'll check my progress on Sunday night, Feb 25 and see if I'm able to do as I resolve to.

End Goal: Lose 15 lbs by April 2007.

SideNote: I went to Bohol last Feb 9 - 11 and it was great! I want to do justice to the trip so I'd want to write a nice long entry, which will probably be entitled, Bohol: Better than Boracay! Haha :-p

DessertComesFirst

DessertComesFirst

Dear Friends,

My friend Nanah told me about this awesome blog/site on food! So much scrumptious food, buffets and desserts! Check it out at DessertComesFirst. It's the ultimate food-lover's dream come true!

The Nth Food Trip

Heaven ‘N Eggs

My reckless splurging days are over so Aldrich and I decided to reserve the expensive restos to special occasions. On our 5th monthsary celeb (a week advanced to take advantage of the 3 day weekend) we had lunch at Heaven ‘N Eggs in G4 and I was surprised to say the food wasn’t really that expensive considering the huge servings that they had! I ordered Breakfast Chicken Teriyaki which was served in a pan-like ceramic with what seemed like 2 cups of rice mixed with chicken teriyaki strips, tofu cubes, black mushrooms, togue and 2 eggs which I opted to be cooked sunny-side up.

Aldrich had the Angus-Beef platter with really good and tasty beef, one sunny side up egg and one baked egg, rice and condiments like ketchup, suka and atsara.

Lastly, we had Mango Crepe ala Mode which I didn’t bother taking a picture of since it’s nothing uncommon. It had the usual chocolate syrup, cream and a scoop of vanilla ice cream and tasted good, too :)

Color Me Mine

After a four-month wait, we’ve finally gotten the Triceratops that we colored in Color Me Mine, and I knew that mine was quite an artists’ flop. I didn’t coat on the color thick enough and my dinosaur looked blood-stained instead of cute! Oh well, hehehe.

Adik sa Tahong

“Adik ka!” This is what a friend told me when I recounted my recent Dampa experience. Monday (Nov 28) was a sort of continuation of our advanced monthsary celeb, so Aldrich and I went to Greenbelt to watch the sneak preview of Chicken Little, shopped around a bit and had dinner at ‘The Original Dampa’ along Sucat in Paranque.

Greenhorns in seafood marketing, we just went to one stall and bought all the seafood there, tsk tsk. I can almost here the voices of my parents laughing and exclaiming that we should have gone around to all the stalls and checked for different signs of freshness from each fish or shrimp or shell, hehehe. Anyway, after the ultra quick trip to the market, we had our seafood cooked at a place called Trinity’s which seemed to be the biggest and the most frequented resto there. It was only when the food arrived did we realize that we bought too much--½ a kilo of shrimp, squid and panga each and 1 full kilo of tahong. But since adik ako, I was able to finish around ¾ kilo of the baked tahong with cheese. It’s freakin’ tasty and good baked tahong with cheese, my super favorite in the whole seafood world! That’s why I was able to happily gobble all that up. The Buttered Shrimp with Oyster Sauce were really really good too, but I didn’t finish as much since prying the meat out of the shell proved to be a hindrance. Aldrich and I were able to finish the Inihaw na Pusit since half a kilo was the normal serving size and it wasn’t as spectacular as the ones I’ve tasted at Congo’s or Baywalk. As for the Panga sa Miso, I found the soup terribly salty and could not muster to have any more after the initial taste tests.

After a while, we decided to have the food wrapped up already for take out coz even though I felt like I could still finish the entire kilo of tahong, there was a ‘health and gluttony’ conscience at the back of my mind telling me that I might get rushed to the hospital if I don’t stop gobbling up the tahong. I felt really woozy and sabog afterwards, just like after a drinking session and also the back of my head kinda hurt and I could feel warmth going up my body which I interpreted as signs of high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Something like this also happened to me after eating the 2 eggs at Heaven ‘N Eggs, hehehe.

I think I’ll start dieting again…now for health reasons, hehehe.

The Verdict on the Ultimate Chocolate Buffet

The Verdict on the Ultimate Chocolate Buffet

I came home from Makati Shangri-La’s Chocolate Buffet all woozy and sleepy! This was because I took too much Baileys mixed with melted Dark Chocolate hehehehe. So it took me 2 days to finally think straight and write this review. Read on!

Ambiance

The Lobby Lounge of Makati Shang was on the far end of the entrance of the hotel and had the signature Shangrila plush seats with a man on the piano providing the background music. The lights were high and bright and gave a somewhat chirpy atmosphere to the area.

When my friend Stella and I got there, the receptionist was busy talking to some other guests so we went to the cashier area where we spotted another waitress. She then called the other girl who led us to our reserved seat. Since it’s a lounge, the feel of the area wasn’t stuffy and bordering more on the casual chic.

Out waitress gave us a liquor menu but later on led us to the Chocolate Buffet upon finding out that we were there for their chocolate treats. The entire buffet was placed on five small tables with alternate heights fronting the lounge so it’s the first thing you’d see once you get near the area.


Selections

Of course I do not know what all the chocolate creations are called, but I will try my best in describing them, hehehe. On the right table were the spiral chocolate lollipops made of white and milk chocolate, chocolate biscuit-bread looking things with fruits and cream in the middle, chocolate bread—which was too ‘siksik’ for me. One distinct tart I didn’t like was the one mixed with spice. Stella and I couldn’t pinpoint if it was cinnamon or allspice or nutmeg but it had this funny a-little-too-minty sensation in your tongue that left a light bubble gum taste that I didn’t like.

Anyway, on the lower table was the best chocolate panna cotta that I have tasted! I love the mixture of cream, milk choco and dark chocolate that gives this light texture but strong flavor and there’s also caramel sauce at the bottom so you have the option to mix it or not depending on your taste. This was the best treat for me in the entire buffet J

Moving on, in the middle table was the drinking station with 5 variations of huge chocolate pellets: milk choco, white choco, semi-sweet, dark sweet and dark chocolate to be mixed with any of the following choices: milk, bailey’s tia maria’s, macadamia nut essence, and some other drinks that I didn’t know of. In a bout of excitement, I chose the concoction of dark chocolate with Bailey’s. The waitress mixed and melted them in the mini-saucepan at the buffet table and delivered the glass (around 8oz) with a stainless holder to our table.

There were also strawberries dipped in milk and white chocolate along with pralines with different flavors inside them all lined up in a 6 tier rack. Beside them were the green-colored mint gelatins with dark chocolate shards stuck all around to be poured with orange sauce; chocolate bread sticks and hot chocolate scones with your choice of whipped cream, and fruit sauce (blueberry, mango, strawberry) were also among the selections.

On the leftmost table were dimsum looking things that had chocolate inside—they were okay but didn’t really tickle my fancy so I just took a bite off from each of them for a taste. And also by this time, I was woozy from drinking the Bailey’s with dark chocolate, hehehe. I was actually still able to think some and decided to stop drinking the Baileys and ordered a different chocolate drink mixture similar to my friend, Stella’s. It was a mixture of half dark and half semisweet choco pellets melted with the macadamia nut essence. Mine came out stronger than Stella’s possibly because they didn’t use any measuring tools but just mixed all the ingredients together by feel.

Regretfully, Stella and I weren’t able to taste the chocolate cakes in the buffet that came from Circles. This is partially due to my wooziness--I could barely keep my eyes open and also because the buffet was about to end since it was already nearing 9pm. By this time, the regular singers at the Lobby Lounge have also arrived and started crooning out some ballads but Stella and I were still able to keep our conversation going.


Overall

I’d give Makati Shangri-la’s Ultimate Chocolate Buffet a 3 out 5 stars. What I liked best about Shang’s offerings were the panna cotta, strawberries dipped in chocolate, and the fact that you can make your own chocolate drink. The buffet was worth the money (PhP603 in all: 550 for the buffet, 100 service charge and 7 pesos additional fee for liquor, heheheh) especially if you prepare well for the chocolate indulgence.


Tips from Moi
1) Take liquor at the end of the buffet, not in the middle of it!
2) Get to the buffet early, it starts at 6pm and ends at 9pm, so you’ll have ample time to savor, digest and chit chat!
3) You should be a certified chocoholic! That means knowing that you should have enough stomach space to accommodate all the chocolate goodies and have the appetite to savor every single treat in the buffet!


Comparision

Hmmm, I’ve been to the Manila Penn’s Chocolate buffet last Nov 2004 and I’d say that I liked their offerings and ambiance better than Shang’s. Manila Penn’s lobby was more intimate with low lights and a violin quartet playing on the background. The buffet also had crepes with the chef whipping them up in front of you and of course, my favorite, the chocolate soup that was a mixture of white and dark chocolate. :)


Till the next hotel’s chocolate buffet!!!


P.S.. Circles Restaurant in Makati Shang and Crown Plaza Hotel in Galleria has a chocolate fountain where you can coat your food with chocolate from the flowing fountain! Cool!

A fetish for Vanilla…

By far, the best desserts that I’ve tasted have been topped with creamy, pure and innocent looking vanilla ice cream! I was more of a chocoholic before but now, I’ve discovered the utter delight of vanilla ice cream—whether on a cone, as a drink or topped in some devilish dessert!

Here are some of the vanilla ice cream topped desserts that keep my mouth watering..
1) Apple Fritters topped with Vanilla Ice Cream from Lush Life restaurant @ The Orchidarium.
---the warm, sweet and fried apples combined with cold and creamy vanilla ice cream keep you asking and asking for more. You can even request for as many scoops of vanilla ice cream you can afford, to boot!

2) Flourless Chocolate Cake topped with Vanilla Ice Cream @ The Dome
---the warm and slightly dark chocolate in the moist cake is absolutely to die for! What more with the creamy, freshness of vanilla ice cream to complete the contrast of tastes in your mouth… mmmmm, this dessert sent me to chocolate heaven!

3) Choco Lava @ Samina’s Resto in Jollibee Center, Ortigas.
---rich, brownie dough straight off the oven topped with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. The ice cream is a must since the dough is a bit sweet without it but the combination still made me close my eyes while savoring the dessert.

And then here are my other vanilla favorites…
1) Vanilla Ice Cream Cone from Mini Stop – a simple but delicious treat only for 10 pesos!

2) Pure Vanilla Ice Blended Drink from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf – a drink that tastes of pure vanilla ice cream from McDonalds’s for 150 pesos hahah! It’s worth it coz no other place does it that way :)

Since we’re on the topic of ice creams, I’ve discovered that Fruits in Ice Cream only sells for P15 a scoop in the UP Shopping Plaza! Yes, P15 a scoop, unbelievable! It’s around P35—40 a scoop in Ateneo and P55 a scoop in Rockwell PowerPlant Mall. Wow! My favorite is Raspberry Passion (?) coz it has swirls of chocolate to enhance the strong flavor, delish! :)

I was able to discover this because my college friends and I went to school to get our yearbook last Saturday (Aug 27). Then we had lunch in UP at Mashta, a Korean Restaurant in the mall that didn’t taste bad at all. We had tempura, kimpab (sushi like), bulgogi and a sotanghon like dish and the food was really good and tasty! :) Cool!

I can go on and on about food…

I’m not sure if I’ve already divulged Drich’s and my favorite staple order at Teriyaki Boy. When we get seated, we don’t really need the menu anymore. It’s straight up, two orders of Teriyaki Boy Chicken Don, an order of California Maki and Spicy Salmon Gunkan, Bottomless Iced tea for me and Rootbeer for him, hehehe :) Is it a surprise that I’ve gained weight? Hahahaha!

Recently, I’ve finally tried out eating at Kimpura for the 2nd time in my life. The resto is famous for teppanyaki that’s cooked right in front of you by their chef and the food did taste better the second time around! My brother treated us to oysters, beef, chicken, shrimp, and bean sprouts and fried rice all fresh from the pan! They also serve an appetizer of chili anchovies and miso soup. After the appetizer, then the chef will arrive and whip up the teppanyaki dishes and you’ll be absolutely taken by the smell while the food is cooking. Hmm, this is not really recommended for the health conscious coz you’ll get to see how much oil and butter goes to the tasty dish that you’ll be eating in a few minutes, hehehe.

Let’s now shift the gears to healthier talk, my take on the Fitness First vs. SlimmersWorld competition based from experience.

In all honesty, the only edge that SlimmersWorld has against Fitness First are the free training programs given to you and maintained by fitness instructors in the gym. Fitness First has more comfortable and easier to use equipment, better ambiance, entertainment and facilities. Let me get down to details:
1) Weights machines are padded and not rusty
2) There are easy-to-use Yellow buttons for all adjustments to the equipment – a must for weaklings like me
3) They have this ab-machine that you lie down into and makes you really crunch off the fats in your ab area
4) There are lots of cardio equipment to choose from which are all wired to around 10 TVs in front of you
5) The lockers all have their own lock and key, no need to bring your own padlock
6) There’s a sauna and steam bath area
7) There’s a huge locker room with lots of lockers, mirrors, hair dryers and shower rooms equipped with shampoo and liquid soap!
8) Free banana and VCD rental
9) There are stretching machines too

Hmm, that’s about all the perks I can think of in FF. As for Slimmers, I guess there’s a homier feeling. Once you sign up, they’ll assign a trainer to make you a fitness training program and you can always go up to them and ask for help in case you forget how to use a machine (happens to me a lot of times). After about 1 and half months, they’ll update your program and you can always ask them for any fitness advice or questions. Fitness First also gives you two ‘power packs’ as they call it where an instructor will show you the ropes around the center and give you a workout but everything is verbal. They won’t give you a written down detailed program unless you sign up for personal training.

Since I’ve been working out for 5 years on and off and had about 6 training programs, I think I can already handle working out in Fitness First on my own. Well, professional training is definitely better but hey, I don’t have extra cash for that, hehehe :)

Going to the gym is one of the plans that I’ve laid out for my upcoming birthday this Saturday! Yes, it’s my birthday and Drich is far away…awww. To take my mind off the distance, my birthday’s gonna be a pamper myself day to make me feel really special :)

Here’s my Birthday Plan

1) Watch the movie SKY HIGH – a light comedy, adventure on the school for mutant children. Cool!
2) Have pesto pasta and chocolate cake for lunch! I’m not yet sure where but these dishes are a must since I’m craving for them and my birthday’s an excuse to enjoy myself.
3) Have a good workout in the gym + sauna
4) Avail of my 1 and a half hour Body Scrub and Massage from Fitness First Plus! – I bought this coupon for P666 about a month ago from an ex officemate. It’s good I haven’t used it!

That ought to keep me busy for the day :)

Before I end this post, I want to show the graphic that I made for Drich on his birthday last Aug 24 :) I sent this to everyone in the project including ex project mates so they’d all greet him a happy birthday :)

Craving for Chocolate Nights

I'm desperate...

I really wanna go to the Chocolate Nights Weekend Buffet at The Peninsula!!!! It has been extended until Dec. 18! Waaah!

It's definitely pricey for a non-chocolate addict, 495++ for adults and 295++ for kids. I need to find someone who's really serious about chocolates, who's a connoiseur even, or who's simply game to indulge in chocolate treats. Yung hindi KJ, sigh. I wonder who?

Just to prove how desperate i am, if someone is really game enough but is a bit hesistant to go because of the price, i'm willing to treat that person! But only one, hehehe. Giving away 1000 is too much i think. P500 for companionship? Kinda pathetic, kinda desperate, but hey, i just want someone to go with me and eat chocolate!
See? I'm getting corny from desperation.

Or could it be that i'm barking on the wrong tree? Maybe i should just go on my own? Although i've never gone to a buffet alone in my whole life! Hmmmmmm....i need some insights here. What should i do?

That place would probably be packed with families or couples and then i'd be alone?! I could always view it as a way to meet someone, but that's not my purpose! I'm kinda wary of some stranger suddenly coming up to me and wanting to indulge in chocolates with me (read: chocolate is an aphrodisiac). I wouldn't want to be with someone i dont' really trust while i'm indulging in something that might make my spirits really high...i might get carried away.

Dilemman, dilemma. Sigh.